Thames Valley Economic Growth & Development Conference

Square Roots – Barbara Richardson, Managing Director

Square Roots is a new ‘for profit’ Registered Provider of affordable housing for rent and shared ownership, launched by residential developer London Square. They are aiming to secure £1.5bn of capital to deliver 3,500 new affordable homes in London over the next six years. They have already committed £266m for 694 new homes in Lewisham, Barnet and Kingston for which parent company London Square will act as developer. Barbara will discuss their plans and how they are looking to build on relationships with local authorities, institutional investors and others to enable people doing essential jobs and providing vital services to be able to afford to live in Greater London.

Slough Urban Renewal – Andy Howell, General Manager

Slough Urban Renewal is a joint venture between Slough Borough Council, Morgan Sindall and Muse Developments to deliver a £60m investment into regenerating leisure facilities, delivering enhancements and improvements to schools and providing more homes across the borough. Ahead of schedule, the JV has already completed a major series of schemes worth £48m, including a nine-storey hotel. Following a greenlight from the council the regeneration company is working to deliver the next phase of the programme, featuring the £24m Stoke Wharf development that will provide 312 flats and commercial units.

Metropolitan Thames Valley – Geeta Nanda, Chief Executive Officer

Geeta is Chief Executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley. Across a career of nearly 30 years, she has held a variety of leadership roles in the housing sector. Geeta was Chief Executive of Thames Valley Housing for nine years, and then Chief Executive of Metropolitan from October 2017, before the two organisations merged. She established the highly successful market rent subsidiary, Fizzy Living, in 2012.

Geeta has served on the boards of a number of other housing organisations and is Chair of the G15 of London’s largest housing associations, which collectively provides home to one in ten Londoners, and builds a quarter of the capital’s new homes.  Geeta is a Board member of the National Housing Federation, a non-Executive member of PRS REIT plc, the UK’s first quoted real estate investment trust to focus on high-quality new-build family homes for the private rental market, and an Ambassador for the charity World Child Cancer. In 2013, Geeta was awarded an OBE for achievements in social housing.

University of Reading – Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice Chancellor

The University of Reading has a proven track record of delivering world-class teaching and research facilities. Over recent years, they have made significant investments into excellent facilities, ranging from student accommodation and contemporary teaching spaces. The University’s 2026: TRANSFORM programme has seen £200m invested into the improvement of our campus sites. Robert joins us to discuss the University’s importance to the local economy whilst highlighting their continued commitment to supporting sustainability and ecology using their land.

Lloyds Banking Group – Michelle Blayney, Ambassador

Michelle is Lloyds Banking Group’s Ambassador for the South East, a role designed to help support the social and economic prospects of local businesses and people in the region. In her capacity as Ambassador, she leads a team of senior colleagues to address issues affecting businesses and the local community, such as skills shortages and housing challenges, as well as issues surrounding diversity and inclusion. Michelle will join the panel to discuss the challenges and opportunities presenting themselves in the Thames Valley region and give thought leadership on the post pandemic recovery needed in the area to bring inclusive growth.

Areli Real Estate – Will Robinson, Development Director

Areli are responsible for the proposed £400m Nicholson Quarter regeneration in Maidenhead town centre which has been dubbed the UK’s first ‘shopping centre to town centre’ transformations. Featuring hundreds of new homes, 327,000 sq ft of office space, 60 new shops and 1.5acres of public realm, Will is going to talk about the vision in detail as part of this event.

BDB Pitmans – Sarah Potter, Partner

Sarah is a partner in BDB Pitmans’ Real Estate team. She has a diverse practice which covers all aspects of commercial property, including acquisitions and disposals, landlord and tenant matters (including conditional pre-let agreements), all aspects of property management and property finance. She advises on development matters for both landowners and national and individual developers, including option agreements, sub-sales, conditional contracts, promotion and collaboration agreements.

CALA Homes – Andrew Aldridge, Land Director (Chiltern Region)

With 7 major sites in the Thames Valley and as major land owners in Maidenhead and Windsor, CALA have a host of exciting projects coming to the fore in 2021. Local authorities across the region see them as key partners to accelerate the delivery of thousands of new homes over the course of the next decade. Andrew will talk about their plans and CALA’s overall contribution to placemaking as part of this session.

Slough Borough Council – Dean Tyler, Associate Director of Place Strategy and Infrastructure

As Slough Borough council are on the cusp of submitting planning applications for several sites in the town centre, Dean joins the conference to reflect on the progress made in delivering their ambition and how progress on their £3bn investment plan is taking shape.

Swindon Borough Council – David Dewart, Head of Strategic Place

Swindon Borough Council are looking to further improve on existing infrastructure and further develop the borough within the next five years. A variety of projects will be taking place throughout the borough, featuring one of the largest urban regeneration developments in the UK at New Eastern Villages, that will consist of 8,000 homes, new schools, employment spaces and community and leisure facilities. The council are also working on the £25 million redevelopment of Fleming Way Bus Boulevard and Kimmerfields mixed-use business district regeneration with up to 60,000 sq m of new office spaces and 450 homes.

Lincoln Property Company – Alex Aitchison, Director of Development

Lincoln Property Company are the masterminds behind a wave of regeneration set to take place in Reading. Their Station Hill development is set to feature 1,200 homes and 10,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space. The development is set to cost around £60m and will also see the delivery of 600,000 sq ft of office space.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

Thakeham Group – Rob Boughton, Chief Executive Officer

More information to follow.